Jeff Pfeiffer, Author at StayTuned Magazine

Yule Log is back on Video On Demand (VOD) for 2011

December 21, 2011 Jeff Pfeiffer

The iN DEMAND holiday favorite Yule Log is back and available for free to many cable subscribers via their free Video On Demand (VOD) platforms this season. Although the original televised Yule Log first launched in 1966, iN DEMAND’s version for cable viewers was first produced in high definition in 2002 and started on VOD in 2007. Last year, it erupted in 3D for the first time. This year, another new element is added — viewers can now access the video log online anytime, for free, from the national Movies On Demand website, rentmoviesondemand.com. RELATED: WHEN IS THE YULE LOG […]

Nominations open for 2nd Annual Hero Dog Awards; 2011 event replays Friday

December 21, 2011 Jeff Pfeiffer

Following the success of the recent American Humane Association Hero Dog Awards, held in October and broadcast last month on Hallmark Channel, nominations are now open for the second annual installment of the program, which will again air on Hallmark Channel next fall. Dog lovers can visit herodogawards.org to nominate heroic canines in any one of eight categories: Law Enforcement/Arson; Service; Therapy; Military; Guides; Search and Rescue; Hearing; and Emerging Hero Dogs, a category reserved for “ordinary” pets that do extraordinary things. After all nominations are in, each category will be narrowed down to one finalist through online voting. The […]

PBS to preview first 10 minutes of “Downton Abbey, Season 2” on Facebook

December 20, 2011 Jeff Pfeiffer

The gifts will keep coming on the day after Christmas for fans of classic TV dramas as PBS plans to make available a sneak peek of the first 10 minutes of the highly anticipated Season 2 of the acclaimed, Emmy-winning Downton Abbey. The preview will begin on the PBS Facebook page on Monday, Dec. 26 — about two weeks before the broadcast premiere on Sunday, Jan. 8. “The viewers’ response to Downton has been so positive that we want to reward fans’ loyalty and enthusiasm with an early look,” says John F. Wilson, senior vice president & chief TV programming […]

VOD Spotlight: “Dolphin Tale” casts Winter the dolphin in her own inspiring true story

December 20, 2011 Jeff Pfeiffer

The uplifting family film Dolphin Tale — starring Harry Connick Jr., Ashley Judd, Nathan Gamble, Kris Kristofferson and Morgan Freeman — tells the true story of Winter, a three-month-old bottlenose dolphin that became trapped in a fishing net near Cape Canaveral in December 2005. Most dolphins that become entangled in nets die in them. Winter survived. Rescued by Clearwater Marine Aquarium, she began to recover. However, her tail was so badly damaged that it had to be amputated. This meant that Winter would not be able to be released into the wild after recovery. She also had to learn an […]

VOD Spotlight: “Colombiana” continues Luc Besson’s theme of the powerful female action hero

December 20, 2011 Jeff Pfeiffer

Producer Luc Besson is well known for his films featuring strong, powerful, but emotionally damaged women. The latest entry in this oeuvre is Colombiana, starring Zoe Saldana (Avatar) as an assassin focused on avenging the murder of her parents. “When Luc approached me to star in the movie, I asked him what it was about. He said, ‘It’s as if Mathilda (from Léon/The Professional) is all grown up and became an assassin,’” says Saldana. “That was it; I was in. It hit all the beats of a classic revenge film, but it was also compelling and very moving.” Besson wrote […]

VOD Spotlight: “Midnight in Paris” is Woody Allen’s valentine to the City of Light

December 20, 2011 Jeff Pfeiffer

Although he is most connected as a filmmaker with New York City, Woody Allen considers Paris to be the Big Apple’s equal as one of the world’s great cities. Allen fell in love with the City of Light during the 1965 shooting of What’s New Pussycat, his debut film as an actor and writer. Much like Gil — the Hollywood screenwriter protagonist of Allen’s Midnight in Paris (played by Owen Wilson) — Allen is rueful about not staying there after the filming, as others on that film did. “It was an adventure that was too bold for me at the […]

VOD Spotlight: “Warrior” stars Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton as two underdogs worth rooting for

December 20, 2011 Jeff Pfeiffer

Warrior pits brother against brother, as both train for a championship — and a $5 million prize — in a mixed-martial-arts (MMA) fight. Tommy Conlon (Tom Hardy, pictured left, of Inception and the upcoming The Dark Knight Rises) and his mother escaped an abusive father and, after his mother’s death, he joined the Marines. His brother, Brendan (Joel Edgerton, Animal Kingdom, pictured right), chose to stay with his father so he could be close to his girlfriend, Tess, who he married. Years later, the brothers confront each other as they train for the fight of their lives.

NGC to reair “Inside North Korea” documentary

December 19, 2011 Jeff Pfeiffer

For a 2007 episode of its acclaimed documentary series Explorer called “Inside North Korea,” National Geographic Channel crossed into the secretive nation of North Korea and showed viewers an extremely rare glimpse of the country and its absolute dictator, Kim Jong Il, who passed away Saturday. Correspondent Lisa Ling crossed the border by traveling undercover with a Nepalese eye surgeon on a humanitarian mission. As Dr. Sanduk Ruit performed more than 1,000 surgeries in less than 10 days, the NGC camera crew posed as members of his medical team to document his work and offer unprecedented insight into the most […]

TLC special goes inside the world of Justin Bieber

December 19, 2011 Jeff Pfeiffer

This Wednesday, Dec. 21, at 9pm ET, TLC will present a one-hour holiday special called This Is Justin Bieber, which purports to take an intimate look at the inner workings of the teen superstar’s world. In addition to sharing personal interviews, the singer performs acoustic renditions of songs from his new holiday album, Under the Mistletoe, as well as new performances of his own songs and other R&B hits. Throughout the special, British personality Reggie Yates will also join Bieber on a behind-the-scenes private tour of London, a special performance on The X Factor UK, and a collaboration with British […]

VOD Spotlight: Return of “The Smurfs”

December 16, 2011 Jeff Pfeiffer

Google “The Smurfs” and over 41 million hits come up, indicative of the popularity of the little blue folk. The Smurfs have epitomized the best of humanity since their first comic book by Belgian cartoonist Peyo in 1958. The Smurfs television series launched in the United States in 1981 and entertained a generation of children. Now the little blue family is back in The Smurfs, a film blending live action and animation.